This; what I would hope is more Progressives running for office. Then again, I'll gladly take the GOP tripping over themselves for the rich and giving the Democrats a message they can galvanize around.

impaler:Are they more unified, or has the Tea Party riff in the GOP just make them seem more unified?

The Dems have always been more 'chaotic' than the GOP. The GOP was united by the 40 year dominance of the Dems in the Congress and the desire to take control.

The Dems, on the other hand, have always been more understanding and tolerant of divergent views. They truly are the 'Big Tent' and it shows in the wide variety of disparate views on any number of things. Hell, the 'Blue Dog' Democrats were more Republican than Democrat and it wasn't until recently that they found themselves chased out of power by the Tea Party primaries.

As for 'why' they're more unified now, I give full credit to the President. We haven't seen a Democrat with this kind of personal power and party influence since LBJ.

The only thing that concerns me is what he does with the rest of his career after his second term. I truly hope he goes back to the Senate for the next 40 years and keeps the Dems going, playing Kingmaker for a new generation of similar Democrats that aren't afraid to kick GOP ass.

Rwa2play:Weaver95: lets hope they don't get distracted by something shiny....

This; what I would hope is more Progressives running for office. Then again, I'll gladly take the GOP tripping over themselves for the rich and giving the Democrats a message they can galvanize around.

Liberals need to start challenging incumbents in the primaries. The GOP's insanity will turn off moderates, so a sensible liberal could actually win a general election. It's unlikely that we'll have another opportunity like this.

Rwa2play:coeyagi: Having a unified message, as unlikely as it may be, is still going to fall on deaf ears when the level of GOP base retardation is at DERPCON 1.

But that's the thing: So long as the GOP base is at DERPCON 1, Democrats have an easy message to convey to moderates.

"Do we really want the inmates to run the insane asylum? No? Then vote Democrat."

There aren't moderates in this race, there are undecideds. Undecideds aren't people with political indifference, they're lazy. How can you be undecided in this race? Romney is running one of the worst campaigns in history. I am pretty sure the undecideds are really just undecided if they are going to get off their lazy asses on November 6 and vote.

The re-calibration began after the collapse of the 2011 debt ceiling talks between Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), at which point the White House decided Republicans weren't worth negotiating with.

Well, great, we have a strong, unified conservative party to counter a fracturing but still powerful far-right nationalist party. Surely, the tension between right and right will breathe new health into America.

This; what I would hope is more Progressives running for office. Then again, I'll gladly take the GOP tripping over themselves for the rich and giving the Democrats a message they can galvanize around.

Liberals need to start challenging incumbents in the primaries. The GOP's insanity will turn off moderates, so a sensible liberal could actually win a general election. It's unlikely that we'll have another opportunity like this.

Again, this. I mean, look at Reid winning in Nevada against all expectations. If the GOP continues to go for the crazy in more moderate states, Democrats can stay center-left and win easily.

"The biggest thing that changed was there was a major shift in the overall environment when it comes to the tax debate," the Democratic aide said, crediting the Occupy Wall Street movement for helping make the wealth disparity a national issue. "People increasingly think the system is rigged to benefit those at the top."

EighthDay:Democratic operatives chalk up their new posture to a number of factors: an altered political environment more focused on income inequality,

Say whatever you want about OWS and their effectiveness and progress (or lack thereof), this is at least partly a result of them.

Income inequality has been an ignored issue for decades - it's now become a political issue getting lots of discussion.

And it's basic economics - if all the wealth is at the top, who is going to buy sh*t? A billionaire isn't going to buy 4000000 boxes of cereal like the people from whom he horded his wealth.

It's pretty amazing that the wealthy GOPers can trick the base into thinking they've got a shot at the top without that nasty gubermint in the way. Seriously, Copperfield and Blaine ain't got shiat on the GOP.

As soon as there's the appearance of traction, some California toolbag will screw it up by mistakenly thinking they have the political capital to try to pass a bill forcing us all to replace all meat products with hemp and granola or something...and completely forget about the actual issues that put them in such a position. And then the wheels will fall off again.

EighthDay:Democratic operatives chalk up their new posture to a number of factors: an altered political environment more focused on income inequality,

Say whatever you want about OWS and their effectiveness and progress (or lack thereof), this is at least partly a result of them.

Income inequality has been an ignored issue for decades - it's now become a political issue getting lots of discussion.

Actually, we're still here and we're doing fine. Occupy is only "ineffective" in the sense that we don't truck with electoral politics... which would be the fastest route to irrelevance for our movement. Real social and political change has never once come from the ballot box in this country.

coeyagi:And it's basic economics - if all the wealth is at the top, who is going to buy sh*t? A billionaire isn't going to buy 4000000 boxes of cereal like the people from whom he horded his wealth.

They don't see national boundaries. They foist patriotism on the proles they brainwash, but to them, it's a quaint concept. They'll just move their business elsewhere once they've drained the American middle class dry.

A Dark Evil Omen:EighthDay: Democratic operatives chalk up their new posture to a number of factors: an altered political environment more focused on income inequality,

Say whatever you want about OWS and their effectiveness and progress (or lack thereof), this is at least partly a result of them.

Income inequality has been an ignored issue for decades - it's now become a political issue getting lots of discussion.

Actually, we're still here and we're doing fine. Occupy is only "ineffective" in the sense that we don't truck with electoral politics... which would be the fastest route to irrelevance for our movement. Real social and political change has never once come from the ballot box in this country.

That's good to hear, since as a far-left-wing liberal libertarian, I support OWS's overall message.

A Dark Evil Omen:Well, great, we have a strong, unified conservative party to counter a fracturing but still powerful far-right nationalist party. Surely, the tension between right and right will breathe new health into America.

The Democratic Party is pretty centrist overall but there are still fundamental differences, the biggest being that Democrats know austerity during a recession is a bad idea.

It's not that they are good at what they do or that they are really even that unified. Hell, it's not even that they have great economic policies. It's just that they aren't bat shiat crazy when it comes to social issues which really get an emotional response from most voters. The GOP has just made it so easy for them they have to TRY to lose. But god damn if they aren't good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

When do we get a truly centrist party, liberal social policies with responsible (TRUE) conservative fiscal policy, not the crazy GOP CAPITALISM RULES ALL AND NO TAXES EVER. You can't spend more than you take in, but at the same time, you can't cut your way to profitability.

Things are looking good for Obama and the Dems. The GOP is going to the RNC with a candidate they hate more than Obama. It looks like the GOP VP nod is going to go to another boring unpopular white guy and the Paulbots still think they have chance at the nomination. The RNC and VP pick will give them a temporary bump, but the Dems and Obama have got the GOP on the defensive. Watching the teabaggers flail over Harry Reid is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Some one on another Fark Politics tab thread said, "Could you imagine if Kerry owned a dancing horse and went to France to avoid Vietnam? Well, now you don't have to, that guy is the GOP candidate." I love it! Where are the Swiftboat Vets now?

dogdaze:Things are looking good for Obama and the Dems. The GOP is going to the RNC with a candidate they hate more than Obama. It looks like the GOP VP nod is going to go to another boring unpopular white guy and the Paulbots still think they have chance at the nomination. The RNC and VP pick will give them a temporary bump, but the Dems and Obama have got the GOP on the defensive. Watching the teabaggers flail over Harry Reid is more fun than a barrel of monkeys. Some one on another Fark Politics tab thread said, "Could you imagine if Kerry owned a dancing horse and went to France to avoid Vietnam? Well, now you don't have to, that guy is the GOP candidate." I love it! Where are the Swiftboat Vets now?

It's a beautiful thing, alright. You can tell those Acorn hippies to back off when they are harassing you to register. No need to get out the illiterate vote this time. This thing is in the bag, man.

As soon as there's the appearance of traction, some California toolbag will screw it up by mistakenly thinking they have the political capital to try to pass a bill forcing us all to replace all meat products with hemp and granola or something...and completely forget about the actual issues that put them in such a position. And then the wheels will fall off again.

/liberal//but you know it'll happen...it always happens...

I think the difference here is the GOP keeps spouting the crazy with the volume turned up to 11.

Lumpmoose:The Democratic Party is pretty centrist overall but there are still fundamental differences, the biggest being that Democrats know austerity during a recession is a bad idea.

At this point you could pretty much replace the entire GOP with a Furby that says either "Economic times are good, we need to cut taxes," or "Economic times are bad, we need to cut taxes." Periodically though this Furby would launch a cruise missile at some brown people.

neversubmit:Real Headline: Disarray To Unity: How Democrats Got Their Groove Back

They didn't the Repubs lost their shiat.

there's more than a bit of truth to that statement...but for what its worth, the Democrats are more organized and motivated than they've ever been before. so maybe a little of column A and a little of column B?